The Importance of Telling the Truth
by FallToPeices
Summary: Set during and immediately after The Importance of Being Phoebe. What if Phoebe had known that it was the last time that she was ever going to see the love of her life? Compleatly ColePhoebe, of course. Probably a oneshot.


Disclaimer- Not mine

extreamly sorry for any typo's that you may find, but the idea for this just kind of flew into my head during 2nd hour today so it's not exactly fine tuned. please please please review though :gets down on knees and begs: think of it this way, everyone likes to know when they've done a good job, and if you hate it, then how am I ever going to get any better if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong. alright. kthx.

------------------------------------------------ The Importance of Telling the Truth ------------------------------------------------

He was swallowed up into the ground along with the Nexus. Phoebe felt her knees buckling under her and her heart stopping in her chest. She clung to the railing for support, waiting to feel relieved or even happy, as she had told herself so many times that she would. She wouldn't have to look over her shoulder anymore, waiting for him to attack her or her sisters. She should feel free, but all she felt was afraid. Something in her was splitting apart, and she was drowning in fear, pain, loss, and love. All of the walls of denial that she had built had crumbled around her, and she was lying bleeding and broken under the rubble.

Then he blurred in, alive and unharmed. It took every ounce of self control that she had not to throw herself into his arms.

"For a minute I thought you were dead," she said, forcing a look of hate into her eyes and praying that he wouldn't see her shake.

"For a minute so did I," he replied, not seeming fazed by the idea. The unnatural edge in his voice reminded her that this crazy madman was not the Cole she had fallen in love with. It was that thought alone that gave her the strength to lie to his face. She told him that she'd felt nothing, that she was free of him and would never look back when he died. Her Cole would have known that she was lying instantly, but the man before her simply turned away, looking hurt. She started up the stairs, not sure how much longer she could hold it together. The tears were already threatening to spill out onto her cheeks when she was hit by the premonition.

Cole felt as though he were completely dead inside now. She didn't love him. She didn't care at all. He started to blur out, not sure where he was headed but planning on somewhere where he could get very, very drunk. He was turning, unnable to resist one last look, when he saw her stiffen, a telltale sign of a premonition. She took an involuntary step back, causing her to step off the stair and start to fall. He lunged forward, catching her small body and supporting her.

Phoebe opened her eyes again, only to find herself in Cole's arms. He waited for her to flinch and pull away, but she didn't. He waited for her to yell at him to get away.

"You fell," he said apologetically, only then noticing that she was crying, "What's wrong, what did you see?"

He waited for her to scream that it was none of his business. To his surprise she didn't say anything at all, and as the tears started to flow faster she buried her face in his chest. Soon she was taking gasping breaths, her body shaking with sobs. Obviously she was too distraught to know what she was doing, why else wouldn't she have pushed him away by now? He was still supporting her full weight and slowly lowered them both to their knees so that she could fully rest against him.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that. All that he could think of was the way her body felt in his arms and how badly he wanted to kiss away her tears and make it all ok, but he knew that he'd lost that right a long time ago. It was a sobering experience in many ways, holding her. His thoughts were far more clear then they had been in the past few weeks, and he was beginning to see the evil in his latest attempts to win her back. What had happened to him? Then, gradually, her breathing steadied. For a minute he wondered if she was falling asleep, but then she looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy from crying and her cheeks tearstained. She started to speak, but then they heard footsteps upstairs.

Knowing that it could only be her sisters Phoebe sprung up and said quickly, "Go Cole, you have to get out of here before they see you."

"Phoebe I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on," he said angrily, "What did you see?"

How could she just jump up and tell him to get out after what had just happened? Now that he had felt her he craved her touch more then ever. He was worried as well. What could she have seen that had left her so badly shaken? Upstairs Piper started to call Phoebe's name."

"No Cole," Phoebe begged, "Please go, please. It'll tell you later, I promise."

Cole, seeing how desperate she was, nodded. A little part of him dared to hope that she wasn't just trying to push him away as he blurred out.

Phoebe wiped her eyes and steadied herself, taking a deep breath and hardening her features to hide her true emotions. It was something that was beginning to become second nature to her, and just another sign of the changes that had occurred in the once carefree and naïve girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and would give anything for love. She went upstairs and explained a somewhat shortened version of the night's events to her sisters, omitting everything involving her premonition. As soon as she was alone she left the manor.

It was only then, as she drove to Cole's penthouse, that Phoebe had the opportunity to sort through some of her thoughts. She had seen so many things, it was hard to make everything out but in the end the message was clear. It was she who had failed Cole, not the other way around. She had seen him vanquished, at her own hand. Despite all the talk she had never thought that she could kill him, but that wasn't what had bothered her the most. She had seen the past. Seen the Seer trick Cole into taking in the hollow, and using it to transfer the Source's spirit into him. She had seen him fighting, praying that she would figure it out before it was too late.

Why had she ignored her instincts? She had known that something was off; she had felt that something was wrong with him. Why had she been so quick to blame him? She should have known that he would never willingly return to evil. Why had she let herself be so blinded by her own hurt?

And he had forgiven her. In his place she didn't know if she would have forgiven him. He had forgiven her and he still loved her. She didn't deserve it.

Cole glanced at the fridge again, about to get up and dig out some cold pizza and a bottle of wine. He had waited for her, he had even made a failed attempt at cleaning up, but she hadn't come. He didn't know why he still let her get his hopes up like this after she had rejected him so many times. He didn't know why he let her have so much power over him when he was supposed to be an invincible being. Actually that was a lie, he did know. It was because he loved her. He loved her and there was nothing that he could do about it. Even after all the pain, she had still saved him from a life of evil. As they say, it is better to have loved and lost…It was ironic in a way. She had saved him from evil, and now she was driving him back to it with her rejection. He knew he should be strong, and fight his inner demons for his own sake, even without hope of winning her back. Somehow he just couldn't find the strength to try anymore.

Then he heard the sound of the elevator stopping at his floor. He pulled himself from his self-pity, knowing full well that it had never suited him, and welcomed her into the place that had once been her home. She looked around warily, assaulted by memories, most of which she had spent a long time trying to forget.

He saw her fighting the urge to run back out before the doors had closed, and stepped forward. He couldn't help but smile as he greeted her, "You came."

"You didn't think I would?" Phoebe asked, already knowing the answer. Of could he didn't think she'd come. What reason had she given him to believe that she wasn't going to string him along again?

"I was starting to wonder," he replied simply, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice. Self-pity was proving to be a difficult opponent to fight, so he tried to change to subject, "Will you tell me what you saw?"

He could tell that she was still hurting by her reaction to his words. He sat down on the couch and gestured towards the chair across from him, but to his surprise she sat down next to him instead. She started to speak slowly, as if every word cut her, "I saw you…I mean I saw myself…killing you."

She looked deep into his blue eyes, waiting to see the pain inside them, but he didn't react. He had known that it was coming. He only wondered why she had come here to tell him about it. Obviously she had seen something else in her vision as well, she never would have cried that way over him. Well maybe she would have once, but not anymore. He looked away.

"It hurt me Cole, god it hurt so much," she whispered, causing him to look back at her, "I felt like I was ripping in two. I felt like I was losing a part of myself, and I was. You are a part of me Cole; you're part of my soul. I'm empty without you."

He didn't dare to believe her words, or to make any assumptions about their meaning. It was a dream, it had to be. He would wake up soon, alone in bed with a terrible hangover. He would wake up to her hate and rejection and to his own insanity. It would hurt when he woke up and none of this was real, but at least, if he was lucky, he would remember this dream. She saw his dazed look, and wanted to ask if he was even listening, but now that she had started she had to tell him everything or she would never be able to.

"I saw the Seer," she continued, "I saw the way she used you, and I saw you fighting the Source. I can't believe that I blamed you, Cole. I'm so sorry, sorrier then I have ever been for anything in my life. It was my job to save you and I didn't. I understand it you can't ever forgive me; I don't deserve to be forgiven."

He couldn't stop himself from taking her shaking hands in his. What if this wasn't a trick? What if it was really her?

"That's not true," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion, "You can't blame yourself for what the Source did. I should have fought harder, I should have stopped him."

"You were possessed, you didn't have any control," she replied, shaking her head, "How can you try to make me feel better after what I did? How can you still care about me?"

"Don't cry baby," he said, wiping a single tear from her cheek, "Please don't cry anymore. I don't just care about you, I love you. I'm always going to love you."

Phoebe looked at the man before her. He was her Cole again. He was alive and in love with her, and she was never going to let that change. She had almost given up on her only chance at real happiness. He was her soul mate, and any true love that she could feel in this life would have to come from him.

"I love you too."


End file.
